Chapter-1 The French Revolution

Introduction:
 The French Revolution in 1789 is one of the few historical events that have changed
the history of human beings.
 It is only after the French Revolution that the suppressed people throughout the
world started talking about human freedom, equality and fraternity.
 Pre-revolutionary France is also known as Ancient Regime or Old Order was a
monarchy and was ruled by the generations of Bourbon dynasty.
Pre-Revolutionary France:
France During the Late 18th Century:
King and Queen of France:
 Louis XVI ascended the throne of France in 1774.
 Married Austrian Princess Marie Antoinette at 20 years of age.
 Revolution: Overthrowing a government by a major group of the governed through
methods regarded as illegal under the system existing before the overthrow.
Financial Conditions:
 When Louis XVI became king, he found the country reeling under financial crises
and having an empty treasury.
 Two major reasons for financial Crisis:
o Luxurious life at the palace of Versailles
o Involvement in the American War of Independence. French helped to the
thirteen American colonies to gain in independence from Britain. War
increased additional burden of 1 billion livres to 2 billion livres.
 Livre – The livre was the name of both units of accounts and coins. It
was introduced by Charlemagne as a unit of account equal to one
pound of silver in France. It was discontinued in 1794.
 So, the king decided to impose and increase taxes.
 Taxes for the following needs:
o To meet regular expenses
o To maintain army
o To run court, government offices and universities
 French Society divided into three Estates.
 Only the Third Estate had to pay taxes.
Three Estates: Social Structure:
1st Estate  Clergy
2nd Estate  Nobility
3rd Estate Big businessmen, merchants, court officials, lawyers, etc,
Peasants and artisans
Small peasants, landless labour, servants
 Society of estates part of the feudal system.
 Dated back to the middle ages.
 Old Regime’ indicates society and institutions of France before 1789.
Peasants and Land Ownership:
 Peasants are the 90 per cent of the total population.
 A few peasants owned and cultivated land.
 60 % of land owned by Nobles, Churches and Richer people of the Third.
Estates, Nobels & Church:
Estate, Privileges and Feudal Dues:
 The First Estate: the Clergy
o Enjoyed privileges by birth
o Exempted from paying taxes
 The Second Estate: the Nobles
o Enjoyed privileges by birth
o Exempted from paying taxes
o Enjoyed feudal privileges
o Extracted from peasants in the form of services to lord
 The Third Estate: the Commoners
o Pay taxes to the state
o Kind of services:
 To work in house and fields
 To serve in the army
 To participate in building roads
Third Estate and Taxes:
Taxes paid by Third Estate

Taxes to the Church Taxes to the State

Tithes Indirect taxes Direct taxes

One-tenth of agricultural produce

Gobelle Taille
On tobacco and salt consumption Tax paid to the king
Subsistence Crisis:
An extreme situation where the basic means of livelihood are endangered is called
as Subsistence Crisis.
REASONS-
 Population increased – 23 million in 1715 to 28 million in 1789.
 There was an extreme crop failure.
 Less food production and more population.
 Price of bread, staple diet, increased.
 The gap between the poor and rich got wider.
 Worker’s wages fixed.
 Not changed according to price increase.
 In 1774, 11 lakh workers became beggars.
 Subsistence crisis frequent in the Old Regime.
Earlier Revolts of Peasants:
 Peasants and workers revolted earlier also.
 Lacked programmes and leadership.
 Failed to change socio-economic order in France.
 Left the revolts to the middle class with the Third Estate.
Middle Class- Third Estate:
 Emerged in the 18th century France.
 Became prosperous.
 Had access to education and new ideas.
 Earned wealth though overseas trade.
 Manufactured goods – woollen and silk textiles.
People of Middle Class:
 Merchants
 Administrative Officials
 Manufacturers
 Professional Lawyers
Ideas and Beliefs:
 No group in society should be privileged by birth.
 A person’s social position must depend on his merit.
 A society based on freedom and equal laws and opportunities for all.
 Inspired by philosophers:
o John Locke
o Jean Jacques Rousseau
o Montesquieu
Political Philosophy of John Locke:
 REFUTED DOCTRINES:
o Divine rights
o Absolute rights of monarch
 BOOK: “Two Treaties of Government”
Political Philosophy of Rousseau:
 POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY: Government based on a social contract between people
and their representatives.
 BOOK: “The Social Contrast”
Political Philosophy of Montesquieu:
Legislative Judiciary Executive
This model of Government implemented in the USA after thirteen colonies got their
independence from Britain. He explained his ideas in his book “The Spirit of the Laws”.
Discussion on Ideas of Philosophers:
 Middle class people discussed ideas of philosophers in salons and coffee-houses.
 Spread among people through books and newspapers.
 Read aloud in groups for the benefit of uneducated.
Outbreak of the Revolution:
Procedures for Increasing Taxes:
 Monarch had no power to impose taxes according to his will alone.
 Had to call a meeting to the Estates General.
 Passes his proposals for new taxes.
The Estates General:
 The Estates General was the political body to which representatives of the three
Estates were sent.
 It was conducted only before Revolution.
 It is only conducted for tax discussions.
 Monarch alone could decide when to call a meeting.
 Last Estates General called in 05.05.1789.
Assembly of Estate General:
 At the time of Estate General Meeting, the Third Estate put forward a new demand.
 Traditionally, it had been a convention that each Estate would have one vote.
 But this time, the representatives of the Third Estate demanded that each member
should be allowed to vote, that is, 600 members of the Third Estate should have one
vote each.
Demand for Voting Rights:
 TRADITIONAL VOTING METHOD
1st Estate = One vote
2nd Estate = One vote Total – 3 votes
3rd Estate = One vote
 THIRD ESTATE’S NEW DEMAND
1st Estate = 300 Representatives (300 votes)
2nd Estate = 300 Representatives (300 votes) Total – 1200 votes
3rd Estate = 600 Representatives (600 votes)
[New demand was due to inspiration of Rousseau’s philosophical ideas.
Rejection of Demands:
 King rejected the demands.
 Third Estate represents walked out of Assembly.
 Viewed themselves as spokesmen of the French nation.
Forming the National Assembly:
 Gathered 20th June on the Tennis Court in Versailles.
 Established a National Assembly.
 Determined to frame constitution to limit a power of monarch.
The Tennis Court Oath:
 20.06.1789
 The Tennis Court Oath, by which the Third Estate vowed to write a constitution for
the people.
 Mirabeau and Abbe Sieyes led people.
 Inspired people through writings and speeches.
 Mirabeau:
o Born in a noble family.
o Convinced of the need to do away with a society of feudal privileges.
o Brought out a journal.
o Delivered powerful speeches to the crowd assembled at Versailles.
 Abbe Sieyes:
o Originally a Church priest.
o Wrote an influential pamphlet – ‘What is the Third Estate?’
o ‘Awakening the Third Estate’ is also a notable work by him.
Prelude to the Revolution:
 Severe winter caused bad harvest.
 Price of bread rose.
 Bakers exploited situation and hoarded supplies.
 Women had to stand for hours in long queses at bakery.
 Angry women stormed into shops.
 King ordered troops to move into Pairs.
 On 14th July, people stormed and destroyed the Bastille.
The Bastille: Fortress-prison:
 The Bastille was the fortress-prison.
 On 14th July, 1789, people stormed Bastille.
 Released 7 prisoners.
 People hated the Bastille as it was a symbol of monarchy.
 Fragments of the Bastille sold in the market.
Conditions in the Countryside:
 Rumours spread that lords of manor sending brigands to destroy crops in villages.
 Attacked Chateaux.
 Looted the hoarded grain.
 Burnt down documents of manorial dues.
 Nobles fled to neighbouring countries.
Recognition to the National Assembly:
 Louis XVI could not face the revolting people.
 Accorded recognition to the National Assembly.
 Accepted that a constitution would check his powers.
Actions Taken by the Assembly:
 Abolished feudal dues and taxes on the night of 4 th August, 1789.
 Forced members of the clergy to give up their privileges.
 Abolished ‘Tithes’.
 Confiscated lands owned by the Church.
 Result: Government acquired assets worth at least 2 billion livres.
Constitutional Monarchy:
 The National Assembly completed the draft of constitution in 1791.
 Main object of the Constitution:
o To limit the powers of the monarch
 Powers separated and assigned to the following institutions:
o Legislature
o Executive
o Judiciary
 Result: France became a constitutional monarchy.
Political System in 1791:
Legislature
Control
Executive (National Assembly
(King) 745 members)
Veto
Judiciary Control
(Judge)
Electors
V (50000
o Ministers Men)
t
e
Active Citizens (Eligible to vote): 4 million out of 28 million

Passive Citizens (No voting rights): 3 million women, men, children and youth below 25

Declaration of the Rights of Man:

 The Constitution began with a Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen.
o Right to life
o Right to freedom of speech ‘Nature and
o Right to freedom of opinion inalienable’ rights
o Equality before law
 Those rights came by birth.
 Could not be taken away.
 Duty of the state to protect natural rights.
Impact of the French Revolution:
 Ideas of liberty and democratic rights most important legacy.
 Spread from France to rest of Europe during 19 th century.
 Other European countries abolished feudalism.
 Colonised people inspired to create sovereign nation.
 Tipu Sultan and Rammohan Roy in India inspired by the Revolution.
Republic France:
Attacks on Feudal Nobility:
 The Revolutionary wars had brought losses and economic difficulties to the people of
France.
 The Paris mob executed the mere and paraded his head through the streets on a
pole.
 Throughout the countryside, peasants attacked the nobility and burned feudal
documents.
 The National Assembly abolished feudalism in France and in the streets the common
people shouted “Liberty!!!”, “Equality!!!”, “Fraternity!!!”.
France Becomes a Republic:
Secret Negotiations:
 Louis XVI entered into secret negotiations with King of Prussia.
 Rulers of neighbouring countries worried by developments in France.
 Made plans to send troops to put down the events happening since the summer of
1789.
War of National Assembly:
 National Assembly voted in April 1792 to declare war against Prussia and Austria.
 Thousands of volunteers joined the army.
 Saw this as a war of the people against kings and aristocracies all over Europe.
 Sang patriotic song, the “Marseillaise”.
 Composed by poet, Roget de L’Isle.
 Volunteers sang it first time when marching from “Marseillaise” to Paris and thus got
its name.
 Now it is the national anthem of France.
Economic Difficulties:
 People faced losses and economic difficulties due to revolutionary wars.
 Man fought the war.
 Women earned livelihood and looked after families.
 Majority people wanted revolution to continue further as the Constitution of 1791
gave political rights only to the richer sections.
Political Clubs:
 Platforms for people to discuss government policies.
 Planned their own forms of action.
 Women formed their own clubs.
 The Jacobins’ were the most successful clubs.
 Got name from former convent of St Jacob in Plains.
 Maximilian Robespierre – leader of the Jacobins.
Members of The Jacobins:
 Belonged to the less prosperous sections of society:
o Small shop-keepers
o Shoe-makers
o Pastry cooks
o Watch-makers
o Printers
o Servants
o Daily-wage workers
Dress of Jacobins:
 Wore long striped trousers like dock workers.
 Distinct from the fashionable section – nobility.
 Nobility wore knee breeches.
Sans-culottes:
 Dress of Jacobins proclaimed end of the power wielded by wears of knee breeches.
 Jacobins came to known as the “sans-culottes” (‘those without knee breeches’).
 Their Bonnet rouge (red cap) symbolised liberty.
 Women not allowed to wear it.
Actions of Jacobins:
 Planned an insurrection with Parisians in 1792.
 Angered by the short supplies and high prices of food.
 Stormed the Palace of the Tuileries on 10th August, 1792.
 Held the king hostage after attacking guardsmen.
 The Assembly voted to imprison the royal family.
Birth of Republic:
 Elections held.
 Men of 21 years and above got voting right.
 Newly elected assembly called – the Convention.
 On 21st September, 1792, abolished monarchy in France.
 France became a Republic.
Regin of Terror:
 1793 to 1794 – The Regin of Terror.
 Maximilian Robespierre practiced a severe punishment.
 Enemies of the republic arrested and tried by a revolutionary tribunal and then
guillotined. The guillotine was a device invented by Dr Joseph Guillotine.
Guillotine:
It was a device consisting of two poles and a blade with which a person is beheaded.
Action of Maximilian:
 Placed ceiling on wages and prices.
 Rationed meat and bread.
 Forced peasants to sell their grains at the fixed rate.
 Forbade the use of expensive white flour.
 Forced people to eat the “pain d’égalité” – equality bread made of whole wheat.
 Churches closed and converted into offices and barracks.
Arrest and Execution of Maximilian:
 Abolished traditional Monsieur (Sir) and Madame (Madam).
 Introduced Citoyen and Citoyenne (Citizen).
Arrest of Maximilian: July, 1794
Maximilian executed – July, 1794
Directory Rules in France:
WEALTHIER MIDDLE
New CLASS RULE
Constitution Two Legislative
Introduces (No Councils
vote to non-
propertied
sections) Directory (Of
five Members)

 Directors clashed with the legislative councils.

 Councils sought to dismiss them.
 Political instability of Directory.
 Rise of a military dictator, Napoleon Bonaparte.
Women and The French Revolution:
Women Participation:
 Participated in the Revolution actively from the very beginning.
 Had their own clubs and newspapers.
 Expected revolutionary government to introduce measures to improve their lives.
Women of the Third Estate:
 Had to work for a living.
 Worked as:
o Seamstresses or laundresses
o Domestic servants in the houses of prosperous people
o Sellers of flowers, fruits and vegetables
Women And Education:
 No access to education and job training.
 Daughters of nobles and wealthier members of the third estate could study a
convent.
o Convent – Building belonging to a community devoted to a religious life.
 Families arranged a marriage for them.
 Working women also did household chores like:
o Cooking
o Fetching water
o Queuing up for bread
o Looking after the children
 Wages lower than those of men.
Women and Political Clubs:
 Discussed and voiced their interests through clubs.
 60 women clubs in different French cities.
 Most Famous Club:
o The Society of Revolutionary Republican Women
 Started their own newspaper also.
Main Demands:
 Disappointed that the Constitution of 1791 reduced them to passive citizens.
 Demanded the same political rights as men:
o Right to vote
o To be elected to the Assembly
o To hold political office
Positive effects of Reign of Terror:
 Revolutionary Government introduced laws for women.
 These laws helped improve the lives of women.
 State schools established.
 Schooling made compulsory for all girls.
 Forced marriages against the will of women prevented.
 Marriages made into a contract and registered under civil law.
 Divorce made legal and men and women applied for it.
 Gave chances to train for jobs.
 Enabled women to become artists or run small businesses.
 The Jacobin regime abolished slavery in the French colonies.
During Reign of Terror:
 Issued laws to close women’s clubs.
 Banned political activities of women.
 Arrested many prominent women and executed them.
International Suffrage Movement:
 Women’s movements for voting rights and equal wages continued in the next 200
years.
 Fight for vote became an international suffrage movement.
 Political activities of French women during revolutionary years inspired the whole
world.
 In 1946, women in France won the right to vote.
Olympe de Gouges:
 Protested exclusion of women in Constitution and Declaration of Rights of Man and
Citizen.
 Wrote “Declaration of the Rights of Women and Citizen” in 1791.
 Addressed the book to Queen and Members of National Assembly.
 Criticized the Jacobins for closing women’s club.
 Tried and executed for treason.
o Treason – Betrayal of one’s country or government.
Abolition of Slavery:
The Jacobins:
 The Jacobin regime abolished slavery in the French colonies.
 Caribbean colonies: Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo; supplied
commodities (tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee).
 Europeans’ reluctance to work in distant and unfamiliar lands caused shortage of
plantation labour.
 Labour shortage met by triangular slave trade between Europe, Africa and the
Americas.
Triangular Slave Trade:

(3) Plantation goods from Caribbean to Europe

To plantations in Caribbean (2)
(1) Slaves from Africa
Beginning of Slave Trade:
 The exploitation of slave met growing demand in European markets for sugar,
coffee, and indigo.
 Port cities Bordeaux and Nantes became prosperous due to slave trade.
 Caribbean colonies: Martinique, Guadeloupe and San Domingo; supplied
commodities (tobacco, indigo, sugar and coffee).
 Slaves were brought from local chieftains, branded and shackled and were packed
tightly into ships for the three-month-long voyage across the Atlantic to the
Caribbean.
 Slave labour met the growing demand in European markets for sugar, coffee, and
indigo.
Debates Over Slavery:
 Little criticism of slavery throughout the 18 th century France.
 National Assembly debated over extending rights of man to all French subjects
including those in the colonies.
 Did not pass any laws.
 Feared opposition from businessmen whose incomes depended on the slave trade.
Convention and Abolition of Slavery:
 Convention legislated to free all slaves in the French overseas possessions in 1794.
 Abolition turned out to be a short-term measure.
 Napoleon re-introduced slavery.
 Plantation owners understood their freedom included the right to enslave African
negroes for profit.
o Negroes – A term used for the indigenous people of the south Sahara, Africa.
 Slavery was finally abolished in French colonies in 1848.
Abolition of Censorship:
 After 1789, many changes occurred in the lives of men, women and children.
 Revolutionary governments passed laws to translate liberty and equality.
 Abolished censorship in 1789 introduced by Old Regime.
 Publishing of Newspapers, pamphlets, books and printed pictures began.
 Events and changes discussed.
 Plays, songs and festive processions attracted large numbers of people.
Rise of Napoleon:
 Became Emperor of France in 1804.
 Conquered neighbouring European countries.
 Dispossessed dynasties.
 Created kingdoms and placed his family members.
 Napoleon introduced many laws.
New Laws:
 Protected private properly.
 Introduced uniform system of weights and measures with decimal system.
 People considered him as liberator and giver of freedom.
 Was defeated at Waterloo in 1815.
Chapter-2 Socialism in Europe and the Russian
Revolution
Introduction:
 Socialism is an economic philosophy that called for a more even distribution of
wealth.
 The Industrial Revolution in Europe was making a few people very wealthy but
countless others were poor and living under miserable conditions.
 Many working class people were attracted to the ideas of socialism.
 And it spread from England to the rest of countries.
 Gradually gave shape to number of political parties and movements of the workers.
Socialism in Europe:
Ideology of Socialism
Inspiration of French Revolution:
 Changed social structure.
 Inspired people to fight for their rights.
 Spread new ideas about rights and who controlled social power.
Inspired Indians:
 Raja Rammohan Roy and Derozio.
 Discussed significance of French Revolution.
 Debated ideas of post-revolutionary Europe.
Different Opinions on Change:
 Not all favoured complete social transformation in Europe.
 Opinions on ‘nature of change’ varied.
 Some wanted gradual shift.
 Others wanted to restructure society radically.
 Three major ideological groups existed:
o Conservatives
o Liberals
o Radicals
Differing Views:
Differed in their opinion about changes:
 Conservatives
 Liberals
 Radicals
Liberal Ideology:
 Liberals favoured –
o Representative, elected parliamentary government.
o Good judiciary independent of rules and officials.
 Was not democrats.
 No belief in Universal Adult Franchise.
 Favoured men of property to have vote.
 Did not want voting rights for women.
The Radical Ideology:
 Favoured a nation and government based on majority of country’s population.
 Supported women’s suffragette movements.
Landowners:
 Opposed landowners’ and factory owners’ privileges.
 Not against private property.
 Protested concentration of property in hands of a few individuals.
The Conservative Ideology:
 Opposed liberals and radicals.
 Against idea of change in eighteenth century.
 Realised later that changes are inevitable.
 Argued that past should be respected.
 Felt changes should be made slowly.
Social and Economic Changes:
 Following factors brought social and economic changes in Europe:

New Cities

New Factors
Expansion of
Industrialised Responsible
Railways
Regions for Change

Industrial
Revolution

Problems of Industrialisation:
 Men, women and children worked in factories.
 Long work hours and poor wages.
 Unemployment due to low demand for industrial goods.
 Urbanisation posed housing and sanitation problems.
The Solution:
 Liberals and radicals also owned factories.
 Increased wealth through trade activities.
 Intended to sustain their wealth.
 Needed healthy work force.
 Tried to improve workforce by giving freedom to individuals.
 Workers supported liberals and radical groups for changes.
Revolutionary Organisations:
 Nationalists, liberals and radicals wanted revolutions to end monarchical
governments.
 Revolutionary organisations established in;
o France
o Italy
o Germany
o Russia
Forming Nations:
 Nationalists believed revolutions would create nations where all citizens would have
equal rights.
 Giuseppe Mazzini conspired to form a nation after 1815.
 Inspired people throughout world including Indians.
Socialism:
 Socialism – a philosophy and political idea.
 Opposed private property.
Socialism in Europe:
 Advocated economic equality for working class.
 Revealed first time how society should be structured.
 Socialists wanted property to be owned by whole society and not by individuals.
 Considered private property as root of all social evils.
Cooperative Socialism:
 Cooperative Socialism was one of many varieties of Socialism that existed in
Europe.
 Robert Owen (a Manchester businessman) and Louis Blanc (in France) were main
propagators of the Cooperative Socialism.
 Robert Owen built an ideal cooperative community called ‘New Harmony’ in Indiana,
USA.
 Cooperatives were based on the Organisation of people in productive activities and
they would be paid according to their labour.
Robert Owen (1771-1858):
 Leading English Manufacturer.
 Believed in Cooperative Socialism.
 Tried to build cooperative community – New Harmony in Indiana (USA).
Louis Blanc (1813-1882):
 Argued cooperatives could not be built through individual initiative.
 Demanded government’s encouragement.
 Favoured government replaced capitalist enterprises.
Scientific Socialism:
 Socialism of Karl Marx finds the route for all social evils in the private property and
the capitalist society.
 Capitalists women factories and explode the surplus labour of the workers.
 Labourers are paid less than their labour.
 Karl Marx’s Socialism calls upon the working class people to overthrow the capitalist
system and private property to improve their condition.
Socialism of Marx and Engels:
 Radical way of overthrowing capitalist system.
 Argued properties be owned by working masses.
 Tried to improve worker’s conditions.
 Fought against capitalists (owners of factories).
 Communist society- natural society of future.
Support for Socialism:
 Socialist ideas spread out Europe in 1870’s.
 Marx explains his ideas to workers.
 Socialists formed an international body to coordinate their efforts.
 Second International formed in 1889.
 These associations worked closely with Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Germany.
 Labour Party founded in Britain and Socialist Party in France.
Definition of Revolution:
 Overthrow of government by major group of the governed.
 Using methods considered illegal under the existing system.
Russia Before Revolution:
Condition of Workers:
 At the beginning of 19th century in Russia, the social and economic condition of the
workers was miserable.
 Of the total population, 85% of people were engaged in the agriculture.
 The peasants in the countryside cultivated most of lands.
 The nobility and the church owned large properties and lands in which peasants
worked.
 Nobles were powerful with the influence of Tsar Nicholas II.
Pre-Revolutionary Russia:
Religions of Russian Empire:
 Major religion – Russian Orthodox Christianity.
 Other religious groups include:
o Catholics
o Protestants
o Muslims
o Buddhists
Regions of Russian Empire – 1914:
 Ukraine
 Poland
 Lithuania
 Finland
 Estonia
 Belarus
 Latvia
Russian Empire in 1914:
 Russia ruled by Tsar Nicholas II in 1914.
 Tsar Nicholas II (Monarch) and Alexandra (Queen) of Russian Empire in 1917.
 Army Coat and Flag of Russian Empire.
Economic Conditions of Rural Russia:
 19th Century Rural Russia.
 Majority of people (85%) agriculturists.
 Higher than most European countries.
 Proportion between 40% and 50%.
 Peasants produced from market and own need.
 Russia major exporter of grain.
 Miserable socio-economic (Craft-works) conditions of workers.
Economic Conditions of Urban Russia:
 19 century urban areas in Russia.
 St. Petersburg and Moscow prominent industrial areas.
 Craftsmen (Ring Spinning Machines) produced more than factories.
 Existed alongside craft workshops.
Factories in Russia:
 Many factories came up in 1890s due to railway network.
 Foreign investment in industry increased.
 Coal production doubled; iron and steel output quadrupled.
Conditions of Workers:
 A divided social group by skill.
 Lived in villages and towns.
 Metalworkers of St. Petersburg considered themselves aristocrats.
 Women made up 31% of factory labour force.
 Paid less than men.
 Dressing of workers reflected division among them.
 Formed association to help other members.
Churches and Nobilities:
 Nobility, crown and church owned large properties.
 Peasants wanted land of nobles to be redistributed.
 They frequently refused payments of taxes; murdered nobles.
Early Revolutionary Activities:
Socialism in Russia:
 Before 1914, all political parties were declared as illegal by the monarchical
government.
 The working masses influenced by the Socialism of Karl Marx established the
Russian Social Democratic Party in 1988.
 Other Socialists formed the Socialist Revolutionary Party 1n 1900.
 The Socialist Revolutionary Party struggled for land drive for peasants.
Russian Peasant – Natural Socialists:
 Russian socialists felt Russian peasant custom of dividing land periodically made
them natural socialists.
 Peasants (not workers) main force of revolution.
 Russia could be socialist faster than in other countries.
Democrats and Revolutionaries:
 Socialist Revolutionary Party stood for peasants’ land rights.
 Disagreement between democrats and revolutionaries.
 Party split on ideological differences.
Bolshevik and Menshevik:
Bolshevik (majority):
 Disciplined Members.
 Led by Vladimir Lenin.
Menshevik (minority):
 Open to all.
 Led by Julius Martov.
1905 Revolution:
 Tsar against parliamentary system.
 Supported autocracy in Russia.
 Liberals, social revolutionaries and jadidists (Muslims) protested against Tsar.
 Social democrats supported them.
Workers Dismissed:
 Price rose; decrease in real wages by 20% in 1904.
 Membership of workers unions increased.
 Four members of Assembly of Russian Workers dismissed at Putilov Iron Works.
 Members called for industrial action.
Bloody Sunday:
 In 1905, Tsar was against Parliamentary system.
 Meanwhile, around ten thousand workers protested in Saint Petersburg and
demanded decrease in the working hours and also improvement in the working
condition.
 Workers were led by Father Gapon.
 They protested in front of Winter Palace and were attacked by police and cossacks.
 Hundred workers were killed and three hundred wounded.
 This incident and its following events are known as the Bloody Sunday.
Results of Bloody Sunday:
 Strikes took place all over country.
 Universities closed down.
 Student bodies staged walkouts.
 Complained about lack of civil liberties.
 Formation of Unions and constituent assembly demanded by:
o Doctors
o Engineers
o Middle-class workers
Creation of Duma:
 Tsar agreed for the creation of Duma (elected consultative parliament).
 First Duma dismissed within seventy-five days.
 Second Duma re-elected within three months.
 Excluded liberals and revolutionaries.
 Tsar changed voting laws.
 Packed second Duma with conservative politicians.
First World War and Revolution:
The First World War:
 The First World War broke out between two European alliances in 1914.
 Germany, Austria and Turkey (Central powers) and France, Britain and Russia (later
Italy and Romania).
 Tsar supported initially by Russian people.
 Entered into war without consulting Duma.
 Anti-German sentiments arose.
Against the Tsarina:
 St. Petersburg (German origin) renamed as Petrograd.
 Tsarina Alexandra had German links.
 Alexandra influenced by Christian monk, Rasputin.
 All these factors made the autocracy unpopular.
Results of First World War:
 Russian armies lost war against Germany and Austria.
 Seven million deaths on Russian side.
 Three million refugees in Russia.
 Tarnished popularity of Tsar in Russia.
 War had severe impact on industry.
 Germans controlled the Baltic Sea.
 Russia cut off from suppliers of industrial goods.
 Railway lines began to breakdown by 1916.
 Large supplies of grain sent to feed the army.
 Shortage of essential commodities for people in cities.
 Led to disturbance in food supply.
 Bread and flour became scarce in the cities.
 People revolted as a result.
Major Countries of the First World War:
 Central Powers:
o Germany
o Austria-Hungary
o Turkey
 Allied Powers:
o France
o America
o England
o Russia
The February Revolution:
Outbreak of Revolution:
 In winter of 1917, conditions in the capital Petrograd were grown.
 The layout of the city seemed to emphasize the divisions according its people in
terms of availability of essential goods for their survival.
 The workers’ quarters and factories were located on the right bank of the river Neva
and the left banks were the fashionable areas, the Winter Palace and Official
buildings including the palace were the Duma met.
 In February 1917, food shortages were deeply felt in the workers quarters.
 The Revolution of the working masses began inevitable on that point.
Economic Division:
 Layout of Petrograd emphasised economic division amongst its people.
 Right bank of River Neva had workers’ quarters and factories.
 Left bank had the Duma and Winter Palace.
Strikes in Factories:
 Workers’ quarters faced food shortage.
 Strike by workers on 22 February.
 Women carried out strikes in many factories.
 This came to be called as International Women’s Day.
Demonstration outside the Duma:
 Duma suspended on Sunday, 25 February 1917.
 Police headquarters ransacked on 27 February.
 People raised slogans about bread, wages, better hours and democracy.
 Government tried to crush demonstrators.
Petrograd Soviet:
 Soldiers and striking workers gathered to form “Soviet” or “Council” in the same
building as the Duma met.
 This was Petrograd Soviet.
Provisional Government:
 Georgy Lvov – First Minister-Chairman.
 Formed by Soviet leaders after Tzar abdicated.
 Constituent Assembly formed on the basis of universal adult suffrage.
 Monarchy abolished in February Revolution 1917.
 Army officials, landowners and industrialists influential in Provisional Government.
Lenin’s Russia:
Return of Lenin – 1917:
 In April 1917, Lenin returned to Russia from his exile.
 He suggested that “Time was right to take over the power from the Tsarist”.
 He wrote “The April Theses” in which he summarised his future plans such as End of
War, Plan distribution and Nationalisation of banks.
Bolshevik Soldiers:
 Soldiers’ committees formed in army.
 Provisional government repressed Bolsheviks.
 Bolsheviks formed land committees for land distribution.
 Peasants seized lands between July and September 1917.
Towards Revolution - 1917:
 Conflicts between Provisional Government and Bolsheviks depended.
 Lenin feared Provisional Government would setup dictatorship.
 Lenin persuaded Petrograd Soviet for socialist seizure of power on October 16.
 Leon Trotskii headed Military Revolutionary Committee.
Initial Steps:
 Uprising began on 24 October.
 Prime Minister of provincial government, Kerenskii sent troops to control it.
 Ship Aurora attacked Winter Palace.
 Bolsheviks brought Russia under control by December.
Changes After October Revolution:
 Private property abolished.
 Lands made public property.
 Industries and banks nationalised.
 Large houses partitioned among workers.
 Aristocratic titles abolished.
New Rules:
 New uniform for officials and army introduced.
 Soviet hat (“Budeonovka”) adopted.
o Budeonovka – The Soviet has chosen in 1917.
 November 1917 – Elections conducted to Constituent Assembly.
 Assembly rejected Bolshevik measures and Lenin dismissed the Assembly in
January 1918.
 Bolsheviks made peace with Germany in March 1918.
 Russia became one party state.
New Ideas:
 Trade unions kept under party control.
 Later, OGPU and NKVD created.
 Punished those who criticised the Bolsheviks.
 Many young artists and writers rallied to the Party.
 Led to experiments in arts and architecture.
Civil War:
 Land redistribution ordered by Bolsheviks.
 Russian army began to break up.
 Peasant – turned soldiers went home for redistribution.
 Non-Bolshevik socialists, liberals and pro-Tsarists criticised Bolshevik uprising.
 Organised troops to fight Bolsheviks (the ‘reds’).
 Russia controlled by Greens (Socialist Revolutionaries) and Whites (pro-Tsarists).
 Autonomy – Right to govern themselves.
 Nomadism – Lifestyle of those who do not live in one area; move from place to place
to earn their living.
Support to ‘Greens’ and ‘Whites’:
 Countries that supported ‘Greens’ and ‘Whites’ in USSR against socialism.
 Countries worried about the growth of socialism in Russia:
o America
o France
o Britain
o Japan
After – effects of Civil War:
 Foreign forces looted Russian people.
 Famine became common.
 Private property supporters took harsh steps against peasants.
 Bolsheviks controlled most of former Russian Empire.
The USSR:
Birth of USSR:
 Bolsheviks nationalised industries and banks.
 Peasants cultivated socialised lands.
 Lands confiscated for collective works.
Centralised Planning:
 Introduction to centralised planning.
 Officials strived hard to achieve target of five year plans.
 First two five year plans implemented during 1927-1932 and 1833-1937.
 Government fixed all prices to promote industrial growth during first two plans.
Economic Growth:
 Due to centralised planning.
 Industrial production increased between 1929-33 (100% in oil, coal and steel).
 New factory cities came into being.
 Rapid construction led to poor working conditions.
 A steel plant set up in three years in city of Magnitogorsk.
 Workers lived hard lives.
 Result – 550 stoppages of work in first year alone.
 Development of schooling system.
 Factory workers and peasants could enter universities.
 Crèches established in factories for children.
 Model living quarters set up for workers.
New Reforms:
 Stalin (1922-1953 in work) headed the party after Lenin’s death.
 Introduced firm emergency measures.
 Believed rich peasants and traders in countryside holding stocks for higher prices.
 Early planned economy linked to disasters of collectivisation of agriculture.
 Towns in USSR faced acute shortage of grain supplies by 1927-1928.
 Government fixed prices of grains to be sold.
 Peasants refused to sell their grain at fixed prices.
Introduction of Collectivisation:
 Stalin became the leader of Russia after the death of Lenin.
 As part of his many reforms to improve the economic condition and bring economic
equality, he introduced Collectivisation programme in 1929.
 All peasants were asked to work in collective farms called kolkhoz.
o Kolkhoz – Collective farms practiced from 1929 in revolutionary Russia.
 They shared their profit according to their labour.
 This collectivisation was based on the socialist theme “To each one according to his
labour”, “To each one according to his need”.
 Collectivisation programme introduced in 1929.
 Party workers forced peasants to cultivate in collective farms (“kolkhoz”).
 Land and implements transferred to ownership of collective farms.
 Peasants worked on land.
 Shared profit.
Resistance and Reactions:
 Some peasants resisted collectivisation.
 Destroyed their livestock.
 Number of cattle reduced to one-third between 1929 – 1931.
Against Collectivization:
 People resisted collectivisation; faced punishment.
 Deported and exiled.
 Claimed they were not rich; not against socialism.
Bad Harvests and Deaths:
 Due to collectivisation, production did not increase immediately.
 Bad harvests (1930-1933) caused famines.
 Over four million people died.
Punishing Critics:
 Many party leaders criticised planned economy.
 Stalin charged them with conspiracy against socialism.
 Over 2 million leaders put in prisons or labour camps.
 Most of them innocent of crimes.
 Forced to make false confession; were executed.
 Several among them were talented professionals.
Global Influence of Russian Revolution:
 People believed in possibility of forming workers’ state in many countries.
 Communist parties formed in many countries:
o Communist Party of Great Britain.
 Bolsheviks asked colonised people to follow their method.
 Non-Russians participated in Conference of the Peoples of the East (1920).
 Bolsheviks founded Comintern (an international union of pro-Bolshevik socialist
parties).
Insights:
 The Bolsheviks (Russian followers of Communism) encouraged colonial people (like
Indians) to follow their revolutionary path.
 Inspired by the Russian Revolution, the Communist Party was formed in India by the
mid-1920s.
 By the 1950s, almost all countries of the world acknowledged the economic system
of USSR.
 Jawaharlal Nehru and Rabindranath Tagore were two great Indians who admired
Soviet Socialism.
Chapter-3 Nazism and the Rise of Hitler
Introduction:
 The defeat of imperial Germany in World War I and the abdication of the emperor
gave an opportunity to Parliamentary parties to recourse German polity.
 Republic however was not received well by its own people largely because of the
terms that were forced to accept after Germany’s defeat at the end of the First World
War.
 German Republic was held away by the tide of the great depression and ultimately
smashed by a force known as Nazism.
 Let us witness the First World War at Germany which led to the rise and fall of
Weimar Republic.
Weimar Republic:
Germany During the First World War:
The First World War:
 Fought by Germany and Austria against the Allies (England, France and Russia).
 Germany made initial gains by occupying France and Belgium.
 The US joined the Allies in 1917.
 Germany and the Central Powers lost the war in 1918.
German Revolution:
 Rise of Communism.
 Took place in November 1918.
 German emperor forced to abdicate the throne.
German Republic:
 Votes cast for the parliamentary government with a federal structure.
 Adults including women could vote.
Weimar Republic:
 National assembly met at Weimar; establish a democratic constitution.
 Deputies elected to German Parliament or Reichstag.
 Republic not received well by its own people.
 Reason: Signing the Treaty of Versailles.
Results of the First World War:
The Treaty of Versailles:
 Signed on 28th June, 1919.
 Effect on Germany.
 Lost Overseas Colonies.
 Lost 75% of Iron and 25% of Coal deposits to France, Poland, Lithuania and
Denmark.
 Lost Naval Might.
 Was completely demilitarised.
 Made to pay reparations of £6 billion.
Territories Germany lost at Treaty of Versailles:
 Malmedy-Eupen (to Belgium)
 North Schleswig (to Denmark)
 Alsace-Lorrain (to France)
 Hultschiner Landchen (to Czechoslovakia)
 East Upper Silesia (to Poland)
 Posen (to Poland)
 West Prussia (to Poland)
 Memel Land (to Lithuania)
 Free city of Danzig (to Poland)
Other Repercussions:
 Treaty held Germans responsible for WWI.
 Felt the new Weimar Republic responsible for defeat in war.
 Humiliation suffered by Germans at Versailles.
Immediate Effects of War:
 The burden of war guilt and national humiliation.
 Socialists, Catholics and Democrats easy targets of attack in conservative nationalist
circles.
 Called ‘November Criminals’; reference to the armistice signed in November 1918.
Glorification of War:
 Media glorified soldiers after World War I.
 Were placed above civilians.
 Led miserable lives in trenches.
 Trapped with enemy shelling, while facing poisonous gas.
Status of Democracy:
 Democracy as a young idea slot significance.
 Media popularised aggressive war propaganda and national honour.
 Support grew for conservative dictatorship.
Political Radicalism:
 Spartacist League wanted Soviet-style Communist governance.
 Uprising started with the birth of Weimar Republic.
 Crushed with the help of war veterans called Free Corps.
 Spartacists found Communist Party of Germany.
Economic Crisis:
 War made Germany poor.
 Great effect on the economy.
 Paper currency printed.
 Led to the devaluation of German currency called German Mark.
Hyperinflation:
 The occurrence of a situation where the price of goods escalated.
 Inflation - Rise of retail prices of common goods.
 Germans visualised as carrying cartloads of currency notes to buy a loaf of bread.
 Equivalence of US dollar changed rapidly to 4.2 trillion Marks.
Charles Dawes:
 Dawes Plan: An attempt, following World War I, for the Allies to collect war
reparations debt from Germany.
 American financial aid to Germany after WW I.
 Plan proved unsuccessful five years later.
 Young Plan adopted in 1929.
 Caused economic depression in Germany.
Dawes Plan’s Payment Cycle:
$2.6 Billion in War Debt Payments

U.S. Allies

$2.5 Billion in Loans $2.0 Billion in

Reparations Payments

Germany
Effect of the Plan:
 Reworked terms of reparation.
 Germany bailed out by USA: providing short-term benefits.
 Currency stabilised.
 The arrival of foreign investments.
 Became dependent on foreign economies and suffered ‘The Great Depression’.
The Great Depression and its Results:
The Great Depression:
 Wall Street crashed in the USA in 1929.
 Great Economic Depression started.
 National income of USA fell by half.
 Factories shut down.
 Fall in exports.
USA Withdraws Support:
 The USA withdrew financial support to Germany.
 Industrial production shrank to forty percent in Germany.
 Wages depleted, workers lost jobs.
o Deplete - Reduce, empty out
 The number of unemployed people increased.
 Idle German youth took to criminal activities.
Unemployment:
 People willing to do any work for any wage from 1929-32.
 Unemployment weakened bargaining power.
 Organised workers sustained depression.
Loss of Currency Value:
 Loss in middle-class savings.
 German Mark lost its value.
 Small businessmen, self-employed and retailers suffered.
 Women unable to feed their children; filled with despair.
Political Results:
 The Weimar Republic became fragile.
 Turned vulnerable to dictatorship.
 No single party in majority in German Parliament.
 Led to rule by coalition and divided ideologies.
 The Weimar Republic saw twenty different cabinets lasting on an average of 239
days.
 Confidence lost in democratic parliamentary system.
Rise of Hitler:
Rise of Hitler and the Nazi Party:
Adolf Hitler:
 Born in Austria in 1889.
 Grew up in poverty.
 Earned medals for bravery in World War I.
 German defeat in war horrified him.
 Infuriated by the Treaty of Versailles.
Rise of Hitler:
 Germans lost faith in the Weimar Constitution.
 Nazi propaganda stirred hopes of a better future.
 Adolf Hitler rose to power.
 Nazism was established by a blacksmith of Munich in 1918 AD.
 It was an organisation of labourers.
 The main aim was to save the labour unions from the influence of Marxism.
 Later, it merged with Karl Harrer’s group and was named the ‘Nazi Party’.
German Worker’s Party:
 Joined German Workers Party in 1919.
 Took over the party; renamed it as ‘National Socialist German Workers Party’.
 Gave new guidelines and strength to the Nazi Party.
 The swastika was adopted as the logo of the Nazi Party.
 Soldiers of the party wore brown coloured shirts.
 The country was divided into 26 regions to spread Nazism.
Rise of Nazi Power:
 Stirred hopes of better future.
 Nazism turned into a mass movement.
 Nazi party got thirty-seven percent votes by 1932, becoming the largest party in the
country.
 Nazi party’s seats increased from 12 in 1928 to 288 in the elections of 1933.
Year Seats
1924 32
1928 12
1930 107
1932 230
1933 288
Nazi Symbolism and Promises:
Hitler: The Saviour:
 Projected as a messiah by Nazis, chosen by Providence.
 Believed in Nazi propaganda.
 Arrived to help people in their distress.
 Became demi-God to the common Germans.
The New Image:
 New image captured people’s mind.
 The public had no sense of dignity and pride.
 Living in times of acute economic and political crises.
 Hitler said that to worship him (Hitler) is to worship Germany and to worship
Germany is to worship God.
The New Promise:
 A powerful speaker; his words moved the people.
 Passion reflected in his words.
 Promised to restore the dignity of the Germans.
More Promises:
 Promised to build a strong nation.
 Undo the injustice done at Versailles.
 Guaranteed employment and secure future for the youth.
 Assured weeding out foreign influences.
Public Meetings:
 Nazis held massive rallies and public meetings to demonstrate support for Hitler.
 Instilled a sense of unity among people.
 They had understood the significance of spectacle in mass mobilisation.
Rituals:
 All rituals depicted the spectacle of power:
o Importance to Hitler
o Red banners with Swastika
o The Nazi Salute
o Round of applause after the speeches
The Messiah:
 Hitler: Messiah to Germans.
 Born to help people in their time of need.
 Capture the imagination of the people.
Hitler’s Germany:
Reichstag Fire:
 Occurred in February 1933.
 Communists held responsible.
 The aim was the destruction of the German Parliament.
 Facilitated move by Hitler to grab power.
Hitler Grabs Power:
 Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany in January 1933.
 Attempt to dismantle the democratic rule.
 Fire Decree: suspended civic rights (freedom of speech, press and assembly).
 Got rid of Communists.
The Enabling Act:
 Established dictatorship in Germany in March 1933.
 Gave Hitler the power to sideline the Parliament.
 Dissolved the Upper House of the Parliament.
 All political parties banned.
 The state had complete authority over economy, army, media and judiciary.
The Secret Service:
 Acquisition of power by Nazi police forces.
 Security forces created to control society.
 SA, Gestapo, SS, Criminal Police and Security Service.
 Nazi Germany had the most dreaded criminal state force.
Work of Secret Service:
 Could detain people in Gestapo torture chambers.
 Sent them to concentration camps.
 Deported at will or arrest without legal procedures.
Economic Policy:
 Economist Hjalmar Schacht: to restore the German economy.
o Believed recovery possible only by reducing military spending.
 Advised Hitler against huge investment in re-armament.
Work Creation Policy:
 Started to eradicate unemployment.
 New roads were constructed.
 Factories opened.
 Men were given employment in place of women.
 Unemployed men were recruited in the army.
 Hitler organised labour unions.
 Appointed Robert Lay as chief of the organisation.
 Labourers were not given the right to strike.
 Number of members rose to 2.5 crore.
Agriculture Reforms:
 To make Germany self reliant.
 Four-Year Plans were made.
o Helped to increase production.
o Improved the conditions of the peasants.
 Efforts were made for the development of trade and industry.
Choosing War:
 Hitler chose war to resolve the economic crisis; succeeded in accumulating
resources through territorial expansion.
o Accumulated huge number of weapons.
o Increased the number of ships and aircrafts.
 Army strength was increased to 10 lakhs.
Foreign Policy:
 Hitler’s opinion: War required for domination over Europe.
o Based on the principles of ‘Mein Kampf’.
 Also required for acquisition or policy of Lebensraum.
 Withdrew from the League of Nations.
 Began rapid rearmament.
Expansion of Nazi Germany:
Grabbing Territory:
 Reoccupied Rhineland in 1936.
 Austria annexed in 1938.
 A German-speaking state, Sudetenland taken from Czechoslovakia.
 Territories under German expansion (Nazi power): Austria, Poland, Slovakia,
Denmark, Lithuania, France and Belgium.
Expansion of Nazi Power:
 Hitler signed ‘German-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact’.
 Germany took liberty & attacked Poland in September 1939 without fearing the
Soviet intervention.
 Britain and France declared war on Germany.
 World War II started.
Tripartite Pact:
 Between Germany, Italy and Japan.
 Strengthened German power.
 Puppet regimes supportive of Nazi Germany installed in large part of Europe.
Signing Members of Tripartite Pact:
 Saburo Kurusu (Japan)
 Galeazzo Ciano (Italy) Year 1940
 Adolf Hitler (Germany)
Conquests:
 Hitler’s invasions:
o Conquest of Poland in 1939.
o Followed by conquest of Denmark and Norway in April 1940.
o Conquered Luxembourg, Netherlands and Belgium in May 1940.
o Won the Baltic States, Belarus and Ukraine.
 Soviet Army inflicted crushing defeat on Germany at Stalingrad.
Ideology of the Nazis:
Nazi Ideology:
 Nazi criminal ideology linked to a system of beliefs.
 No equality between people, rather only racial hierarchy prevailed.
 Hitler delivered his infamous speech on German Aryan Racial Superiority in Munich.
 Nazi party advocated the principles of –
o Powerful Central Government
o Complete discipline
o Respect for high officials
o Loyalty to the state
Racial Hierarchy:
 Blonde, blue-eyed, Nordic German Aryans at the top.
 Jews: Anti-race, located at the lowest rung.
 All other coloured people placed in between.
Darwin and Spencer:
 Hitler’s racism borrowed from Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer.
 Concept of Evolution and Natural Selection.
 Spencer later added the idea of ‘Survival of the Fittest’.
 Spencer’s idea twisted by Nazis to justify their imperial rule.
“Lebensraum”:
 Policy of acquiring territories.
o Done to accommodate Aryan race.
 German boundaries were extended by moving eastwards.
 All ethnic Germans concentrated in one place.
 Poland became a laboratory for the experiment.
The Racial State:
 Goebbels are the chief architect of the racial state.
 Society of ‘pure and health Nordic Aryans’ set up.
 Aryans desirable and worthy of prospering and multiplying.
 All others classed as undesirables.
 Physically disabled Germans had no right to exist.
Nazi Atrocities:
Euthanasia Programme Centres:
 Programme to systematically terminate all undesirables.
 Included old, sick, mentally or physically unfit Germans.
 Widespread maltreatment of Jews, Gypsies and Blacks.
Slave Labourers:
 Considered subhuman; deserved no humanity.
 Civilians captured; forced to work as slaves.
Jews: Worst Sufferers:
 Hatred against Jews was based on traditional Christian hostility.
 Stereotypes as killers of Christ.
 Were terrorised, struck by poverty and segregated.
 Solution was in their elimination.
 Were compelled to leave the country.
 Killed in gas chambers.
Polish People:
 Forced to leave homes.
 Land required for ethnic Germans brought in form occupied Europe.
 Herded like cattle in other parts of Germany.
Fate of Polish people:
 Educated Polish people were killed.
 Polish children who looked like Aryans were forcibly taken away and examined by
‘race experts’.
 If they passed the race tests, they were raised in German families; if not, perished in
orphanages.
Death to the Jews-I:
 Subjected to step-by-step persecution in Nazi rule.
 Nuremberg Laws state that:
o Only persons of German or related blood were bonafide German citizens.
o Marriages between Jews and Germans were forbidden.
o Jews prohibited to fly the national flag.
Death to the Jews-II:
 The boycott of Jewish businesses.
 Expulsion from government services.
 Force confiscation and selling of properties.
 Jewish properties vandalized and looted.
Death to the Jews-III:
 Kept in Jewish houses, Concentration Camps and Ghettos.
 Wore the yellow star of David on their dress.
 Ghettos brimmed with hunger, starvation and disease.
Death to the Jews-IV:
 Goods trains transported Jews from Jewish houses, Concentration Camps and
ghettos in 1941.
 Brought from different parts of Europe to death factories located in Poland.
 Charred in gas chambers or killed in the mass shooting.
Nazi Society:
The Children:
 Base for strong Nazi society.
 Schools cleansed and purified.
 Jewish teachers dismissed.
 ‘Undesirable’ children belonging to Jews, Gypsies, Blacks, handicapped were thrown
out of schools and were eventually taken to the gas chambers.
Schools in Nazi Regime:
 ‘Good German’ children subjected to Nazi schooling.
 School textbooks were rewritten.
 Racial Science introduced to justify Nazi ideas of race.
 Children taught to be loyal, submissive, anti-Jews and worshippers of Hitler.
 Aim of sports education was to nurture spirit of violence and aggression among
children.
 Army training was compulsory for men between the age of 18 to 45.
Youth Organisations:
 Meant to educate German youth in the ‘spirit of National Socialism’.
 Sanctioned marriage loans to increase the German population.
 Ten-year-olds entered Jungvolk – a Nazi organisation for children below 14 years.
Hitler Youth:
 An organisation for Nazi Youth of and above the age of fourteen years.
 Educated to worship war, glorify and violence and condemn democracy.
 Learned to hate Jews and other ‘undesirable’ people.
 Joined Labour Service at the age of eighteen.
 Later served in armed forms.
Nazi Code for Children:
The health of the child Aryan boys is the power of the nation Nazi Germany.
 Taught that women were radically different from men.
 Boys were trained to be aggressive and steel-hearted.
 Girls were told to become good mothers and rear pure-blooded Aryan children.
Nazi Code for Girls:
 Had to preserve the purity of rave.
 Maintain distance from Jews.
 Had to look after the home, teach Nazi values to their children.
 Bearers of Aryan culture and race.
Nazi Code for Mothers:
 All mothers were not treated equally.
 Women bearing racially ‘desirable’ children were rewarded.
 Given treatment in hospitals and concessions in shops, theatres and railways.
 Honour Crosses awarded:
o Bronze Cross for four children
o Silver for six
o Gold for bearing eight or more children
The Punishment:
 Deviating ‘Aryan’ women punished.
 Paraded through the town with shaved heads and blackened faces.
 Placards hung on necks reading – ‘I have sullied the honour of the nation’.
Media and Propaganda:
Use of Language:
 Deceptive terms coined.
 Mass killings termed ‘Special Treatment’, ‘Final Solution’ (for Jews), ‘Euthanasia’ (for
disabled), ‘Selection’ & ‘Disinfections’.
 Evacuation meant deporting people to the gas chambers.
 Gas chambers were labelled as disinfection areas.
Use of Media:
 Services used for support and popularisation worldwide.
 Ideas spread through visual images, films, radio, posters, catchy slogans and
leaflets.
 Groups identified as ‘enemies’ of Germans were stereotyped, mocked, abused &
described as evil in posters.
Propaganda Films:
Propaganda films (‘The Eternal Jew’) made to generate hatred against Jews.
Pastor Niemoeller:
Pastor Martin Niemoeller (1892-1982), prominent German anti-Nazi theologian and
Lutheran pastor:

In Germany, they came first

For the Communists,
And I didn’t speak up
Because I wasn’t a Communist;
And then they came
For the trade unionists,
And I didn’t speak up
Because I wasn’t a trade unionist;
And then they came
For the Jews,
And I didn’t speak up
Because I wasn’t a Jew;
And then . . . they came for me . . .
And by that time . . .
There was no one left to speak for me.
Image of Jews:
 German people began believing in Nazi stereotypes about them.
 They dreamt of their Jewish looks, hooked noses, black hair, eyes and body
movements.
The Holocaust:
 News regarding Nazi practices trickled out of Germany during the last years of the
regime.
…waiting for their turn!!!
…the HOLOCAUST!!!
 Jews wanted the world to remember the atrocities and sufferings they endured
during the ‘Holocaust’ (Nazi killing operations).
Decline of the Nazis:
The Japanese Attack:
 Expanded power and planned attacks on US Naval Bases.
 The bombing of Pearl Harbour.
 Persuaded the US to finally join the Allies.
 War ended in May 1945 with Hitler’s defeat.
Major Countries of the Second World War:
 Axis Powers:
o Italy
o Germany
o Japan
 Allied Powers:
o France
o U.S.A
o UK
o USSR
The Reaction to Japan:
 Mushroom cloud over Hiroshima caused by dropping of the atom bomb called ‘Little
Boy’.
 Mushroom cloud over Nagasaki caused by dropping of the atom bomb called ‘Fat
Man’.
Prosecution of Nazis:
 Germany surrendered to the Allies in May 1945.
 Adolf Hitler and many prominent Nazi leaders committed suicide.
 International Military Tribunal was set up to prosecute Nazi war criminals.
 Germany’s ‘Crimes against Humanity’ invited worldwide condemnation.
Punishment to the Nazis:
 11 Nazi leaders sentenced to death by the Post-War Tribunal.
 Others imprisoned for life.
 Allies did not want to be harsh on defeated Germany.
Insights:
On “Black Tuesday”, October 29, 1929, the market lost $14 billion, making the loss
for that week an astounding $30 billion. This was ten times more than the annual federal
budget of USA.
Maps:
Territories Germany lost at Treaty of Versailles:

Territories occupied during Nazi rule:

 Germany occupied Rhineland in 1936.
 Austria was annexed in 1938 under the slogan “One People, One Empire and One
Leader’.
 German speaking Sudetenland was taken from Czechoslovakia in 1938.
Time Line:

After the Treaty of Due to Young Plan, economic

American forces
Versailles, Weimar prosperity started in Germany. It
joined First World
Republic came to power in was also decided that reparation be
War during 1917
Germany by a General paid in annual instalments over 59
AD
Election. years.

First World War Weimar Republic Owen Young

1917 AD 1922 AD 1929 AD